The sun beat down on the glossed roof of the palace, unrelentingly doing its best to burn the wax off.
Emperor Rikan stood outside the palace, surveying the layout of his palace guards for the upcoming event. Men and women of all ages marched to their positions on the cobbled square in front of the palace, standing at attention for orders and commands, and the sun beat off of their red uniforms.
Rikan couldn't help but notice that it was a beautiful day. The sun was out, the humidity was at a low enough level that no one's hair was exploding out of their skulls in frizzy waves, and the flower vines crawling up the pole structure and walls of the royal abode seemed to burst and bloom more than usual.
Or maybe that was just his reaction to Queen Channary's departure from his country. The queen hadn't officially left yet; that would happen in an hour. Rikan just hoped that nothing would go wrong in the 3600 seconds that they had left (Rikan's mind had a way of nervously converting all time to seconds when he was stressed; it reminded him of how utterly fleeting time was).
It had been an exhausting half month with the Lunars. Channary's demands and her Lunar gift had kept him on edge, determined to defy her the next time she attempted to manipulate him, but every time she turned her eyes on him, his grip on reality slipped.
He didn't quite loathe Channary; in the many meetings he had spent with her, her personality had been more child than adult. That had been frustrating, but it led him to conclude that perhaps her acting as a child caused him to see her as a child. That had significantly lessened his fear of her.
And her daughter— he had spent brief moments alone with the princess, and in those few moments, he realized she was nothing, truly, like her mother. Princess Selene displayed an aura of maturity that her mother never enunciated (if she had one at all), and she seemed shyer than her mother, although she answered all of his questions calmly and firmly.
He quite liked the crown princess. She had all the makings of a true queen— dignity, leadership skills, and the ability to be able to stand up and speak out against something if she recognized that it was wrong. The other night at the banquet, he had been shocked by the queen and her actions. But he had been even more impressed by Selene's efforts to bring the servant back.
It made him less worried about the type of woman his son could very possibly marry.
Rikan nodded his approval of the guard layout to Deshal Huy, who was standing nearby. Huy shouted out a command, and the guards immediately made their way inside the palace again, in single file. Rikan trailed after them, and climbed the two flights of stairs to his office, preferring the exercise over the high speed transport.
Pulling open the cherry wood doors of his office (and wincing at the sudden shot of pain through his arm that reminded him that he was no longer 20 and lifting weights), Rikan immediately made his way to his chair and sank down into it. Closing his eyes, he sighed and thought back to what he had been considering in the square.
The possibility of his son marrying the crown princess of Luna.
Rikan didn't want to say yes. Kai was 21; Rikan had been 27 himself when he had married Kai's mother, the daughter of his father's chief advisor. He had been given the choice to marry, as long as he could name a suitable heir if he didn't produce any children of his own. He had been given a chance to choose his own path, his own life, his own love. And he had loved his wife. Immensely.
Kai would never get that chance.
On the other hand, Rikan mused, he had noticed that Kai and Selene had been spending some time together, in the garden the first day that Channary had arrived, occasionally nodding to each other in the hallways, and one of his cabinet members had told him that he had heard Kai and Selene talking in the library. And although he had been unsure about Selene and Kai alone with each other in the garden, after a few sitdowns with Selene, it became obvious that she wouldn't try to manipulate Kai. If they were truly to marry each other, perhaps they would fare better than Rikan was predicting.
There was a tap at the door, and then a sleek android entered. "Your Majesty," an automated voice announced. Lising, his android. "Tashmi Priya has commanded me to remind you that you must be dressed for the departure of Her Majesty the Queen of Luna, Queen Channary in forty-five minutes and that you must be in the Palace Square by 4:00PM, 16:00 military time, 4:00 PM Eastern Commonwealth time."
"Thank you, Lising."
All Rikan could hope for was that in the 1920 seconds they had left, nothing major would happen.
Selene sat on her chair in her bedroom (her temporary one, for eight months, at least), focusing on her tutor's words. Or, trying to.
She couldn't help mentally relishing the fact that she had triumphed over her mother in the Catherine debacle. She had received Catherine from the ship after leaving her mother, finding that the poor teenager had shrunk herself into the corner of her prison, shaking and shuddering. Her face had been turned away from the meager light that still shone though the bars of her cage, food barely touched. When Selene had opened the door, Catherine hadn't even looked up, although Selene had noticed that her shaking had intensified distinctly. She had leaned forward tentatively, and whispered softly, "Catherine?"
The shaking had stopped, but just for a moment. Selene took advantage of his and reached for Catherine's shoulder, gently rolling her to face Selene.
Catherine had struck Selene as rather plain in the garden the first day she had arrived in the Commonwealth, but Catherine was plain in the way that Selene was beautiful; it was the first thing people noticed about you, but the last thing people considered after speaking to you. Catherine had been respectful and open to Selene, and that had been what Selene had liked about her. Someone to consider Selene someone normal. Ordinary.
But this Catherine had been locked up and self-deprived of food and supplies, and her face had grown ashen and pale at the same time, her dark hair tangled and clumped. She was still dressed in her palace outfit, which was now crumpled and wrinkled beyond ironing.
Catherine's eyes squinted into the light, obviously adjusting to the light after being swathed in darkness for so long. Upon recognizing who had talked to her, she whimpered and shrank back again.
"Catherine," Selene had whispered gently, trying not to frighten her more than she already was. "I'm not here to punish you, I'm here to take you back to the palace. Off this ship, okay?"
"Off— off— off the sh—ship?" Catherine's words came in choppy stutters and whispers, but Selene built on it. "Yes," she whispered gently. "off the ship, back to the palace, where you'll reunite with your friends and there'll be no more fear for you."
Selene reached for Catherine's arms, pulling her up. Catherine's legs seemed to have lost control of their muscles over the week that she had been locked up, which led to her collasping on the floor again. Catherine began to sob, and Selene felt utterly helpless.
Catherine would have never survived on Luna; Selene had seen first hand how Lunar families treated their "pets," usually lower servants or criminals who chose servitude in Lunar households rather than face the death penalty. They were used for "target practice" usually by the youngest member of the family, who would practice their glamour on the servant, causing them to see something that wasn't there— bugs crawling out of skin pores, poison slipping slowly into inner organs, and a million other mirages.
If Catherine had thought this was hard, she would have died the moment she set foot on Luna.
Selene knelt down, sweeping her long dress behind her. "Catherine," she whispered, face level with the girl's own. "We must leave now— well, if we want to avoid any complications with the Lunar guards— but I assure you, I have official permission from my mother to take you out of this horrid cage." Selene hastily reassured the girl, but Catherine only whimpered.
"What will they say about me if I go back to the palace?" Catherine lifted her tear-streaked face every so slightly to look at Selene. Of course. The cooks, the guards, the servants. Selene knew well enough from her own experience with the Lunar servants that even if you threatened them with unemployment or even prison, they would still talk. And once word got out that Catherine had spent an entire week on a Lunar ship with Lunar guards, no one would ever want to be near her ever again.
Selene thought quickly. "Catherine, do you trust me?"
"T-trust you?"
"Yes, do you trust me?"
Catherine's voice wobbled, but she said, "I- I trust you."
"Good. Alright, Catherine, this is what's going to happen— I'm going to take you back to the palace. You will not have to go down to the kitchens or any gathering rooms of the palace employees of any sort unless you choose to. I will have people go and retrieve your belongings from your room, and if you wish to stay at the palace, you may become my personal maid— at your own consent, of course."
Catherine sniffled, and her tone was uneasy as she replied. "Yes, Your Highness, I would enjoy being your maid very much."
Selene smiled gently at her. "That's settled then. Come now, Catherine. We must leave now if we are to appoint you to your new post."
Selene had felt so happy, so utterly triumphant at managing to—
"Selene!" Selena's head snapped up from her book, into the slightly exasperated expression of her tutor (and head thaumaturge) Elissa Heliore. "Selene, are you even trying to pay attention?"
Elissa was like an older sister to Selene. She was only a couple of years older than her, in her mid-twenties. Elissa had graduated at the top of her class, scoring the highest score on the final exam than anyone else in history. Within an hour of Head Thaumaturge Liam Orta's retirement announcement, Elissa had been promptly appointed his successor. She had mentored Selene since she was 18 and Selene was 12. In those seven years, Elissa had taught Selene how to use her powers properly while also training her in the "art" of using and resisting bioelectricity. "Should the need ever arise," Elissa had said.
But despite all of their history together, it had never stopped Elissa from looking like she had now— slightly pissed that Selene wasn't quite paying any attention to what she was saying. Selene smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I was just thinking about something that happened a couple of hours ago."
Elissa sat down in one of the chairs that faced Selene. The long sleeves of her jacket draped over the armrests, covering them in white cloth. "You don't have to be so secretive about it. I am the queen's closest advisor. I know a few things that involve you and her majesty."
"So you know about Catherine, then?"
Elissa sighed. "Yes."
"Then why didn't you help me convince my mother to let her out of that cage?" Selene heard her own words and almost winced at how razor-sharp they were. Nevertheless, she kept pushing. "Catherine was starving in there! She was scared to death, and—"
"—and it is none of our business to meddle in the queen's affairs," Elissa snapped back. "Her majesty's word is final, and you risked a great deal by going to ask her for permission to release the girl."
"But it was worth it! It was worth it to save the life of someone who would otherwise be gone and probably dead. If Catherine had gone to Luna, she would have been thrown in prison or worse, sent to a Lunar household." Selene shook her head. "You're not usually like this, Eliss. You usually understand why I do things." Selene's voice became bitter as she continued. "You usually see my side over everyone else's, you usually support me better than anyone else!"
Elissa curled her sleek long hair around one of her fingers. She was smaller than Selene, petite and fragile, but she made up for that with her polished looks and headstrong attitude. It was true that she usually backed Selene up on her arguments, but this time she hadn't, and that was what mystified Selene. Not her anger, not her cutting words. The fact that one of her oldest friends hadn't seen her side.
Selene realized that Elissa still hadn't answered. The regular Elissa would have snapped back and thrown herself headfirst in the argument, needing less than a minute to refute her opponent. But Elissa hadn't even opened her mouth to say anything.
"Elissa? Are you—" Selene started forward, laying a hand on her mentor's hand, but Elissa flinched and shrugged it off. "I'm fine," she snapped. "Selene, we've only got a few minutes before our lesson ends and you have to go get ready for her majesty's departure. Let's focus on your glamour right now, and if you really want to continue our argument, you are welcome to find me after your mother departs."
Selene nodded. "Consider it done."
The faintest twinge of a smile showed on Elissa's face, and she nodded at Selene." Start with your visible glamour first."
Selene took a breath and fought the urge to close her eyes to focus. Instead, she let the power flow slowly out of her, pretending that it was covering her body in a sheen of glitter and sparkle. Elissa nodded her approval. "Good. You're getting the hang of a heavier glamour. Now try to convince me to do something."
Selene screwed her face into what must have been a gross expression, but it was necessary. Usually Selene practiced on one of the servants in the Lunar palace (and she always felt guilty about it, but they all insisted that they didn't mind and that Selene was so gentle with their minds, they could barely feel anything), but since there was a shortage of those in the EC's palace and both Selene and Elissa absolutely refused to pull a random Earthen servant to practice on, Elissa was volunteering herself for Selene's lessons instead. Trying to control a thaumaturge was the hardest challenge of all (besides maybe the queen or king), especially Elissa, whose mind had a tendency to wander about and resist against Selene (as she was supposed to).
Selene tried to do the same thing she had with her visual glamour, to pour her ability out of her, but influencing someone else to force them to do something was not the same.
Rise out of your chair, Selene projected her thoughts. Rise, and walk to the window closest to the front of the palace and open it.
She could feel Elissa straining against her, and Selene tried to block it out as gently as she could, but Elissa's mind was stronger than hers, much stronger and tougher due to her many years of experience. And even then, Selene could tell Elissa was going easy on her.
And then, to Selene's shock and surprise, Elissa rose. She hesitated for a moment, but it seemed to be more about which of the three windows in the room to choose rather than to defy Selene's influence. In the end, though, she found the right window and she slid the panel to the other side and locked it in place with a click. Then, she stepped away, looking dazed. She looked back at Selene.
"Congrats, Sel," Elissa said with a gentle smile. "You did it."
Selene scoffed as Elissa reversed her previous action, sliding the window panel closed." You were going easy on me. I could feel it."
"Of course I was. If I hadn't, did you really think you could actually glamour me?" Elissa replied cockily, and Selene laughed. "So much for modesty."
Before Elissa could open her mouth to reply, there was a knock at the door."It's open!" Selene called. The door swung open to reveal Jacin, who was already dressed in his official palace uniform. His stiff posture relaxed when he realized it was only Selene and Elissa in the room. "Leonard Callenti told me to tell you that he needed you for your royal fitting," Jacin addressed Selene, rolling his eyes at the words "royal fitting."
Selene had made up her mind that forgiving Jacin for not supporting her with Catherine was the right thing to do. After all, she knew how much of a tantrum her mother could throw if she found that one of her closest guards was conspiring with her suddenly rebellious daughter.
"I'll be right there," Selene promised, at the same time that Elissa snorted, "Jacin, your enthusiasm is greatly appreciated, as always. Where would we be without you?"
Selene giggled and Jacin rolled his eyes once more. "With an even lazier guard, I suppose."
Elissa, in addition to being Selene's close friend and usual confidante, also held an honorary position in what Winter liked to call, "The Group," or a "group" (hence the creative name) consisting of Winter, Selene, Jacin, and Elissa. They were all close with each other, and for Winter, they were her only friends, which made it even more special for Elissa to be inducted into this high-class gathering.
As Jacin and Elissa finished their daily banter, Selene shuffled away her books and went to follow Jacin, nodding her goodbye to Elissa. "Walk me to the dressing room?" Jacin raised an eyebrow and accompanied her out of the room, walking alongside her.
"Have you heard from Winter recently?" Selene asked, keeping her voice carefully low. She saw Jacin's jaw tighten. "Not since we left, no."
Selene turned to face him and she laid a hand on his shoulder, stopping them both. "I can get you a call with her," Selene offered. "I want to talk to her too, you know. And Elissa probably, too. She'll want to check up on how Winter's doing."
Jacin nodded. "Thanks, but I need to focus on protecting you and Elissa and whoever else needs my goddamn protection." His tone had turned to an unhappy rant as he continued his stroll. Selene caught up to him, and this time she put herself in front of him, stopping him fully. "Jacin, we both know how much you care about Winter. Aces, the whole palace knows. Stop acting like you need to pretend that you don't care about her. It's okay to care about some people, Jacin. It's normal to... to love someone."
Jacin glanced down at her. The look on his face said everything Selene needed to know, and she clapped him on the back. "Great talk, Jace. I'll ask Eliss when she can squeeze us in to talk, and everything's going to smooth out all by itself!" She paused. "But we're kind of late for the dress fitting, and you know how cranky Leo gets when people are late, so we should probably go..."
Kai resisted the maddening urge to loosen the collar of his suit (honestly though? He had half a mind to march into Tashmi Priya's office and fullheartedly throw himself into an argument with her over loosening dress collars. The crown prince of the Eastern Commonwealth already had enough problems. He didn't need to die suffocating in bright view of the gleeful sun in the midst of what scientists had reported was the hottest summer of the century.) as he followed his father out to the palace square, out into the stifling heat. Outside, guards were already lined up in formation for an honorable send-off for the Queen.
In the middle of the square was the large ship that Channary had first arrived in, and as it was on the day that he had first seen it, guards flanked the ramp, waiting for the Queen. Kai could feel his father's stance, tense and stiff. Beads of sweat dripped down Kai's own neck, although it was more from the heat than pressure.
The whole square was silent. The royal publicity managers had sent out a PSA to the people saying that due to going-ons at the palace, no one was to enter or get as close as the palace gates the day of Channary's leaving. Businesses had taken a holiday, and everyone stayed in. The streets of New Beijing, for the first time that Kai could remember, we're silent.
After countless eons of waiting, the grand queen herself finally made an appearance, along with her usual party: Head Thaumaturge Elissa Heliore, several other high-ranking thaumaturges, several royal guards, servants, and... Selene. (Kai had no idea why he had mentally said her name with a pronounced delicate tone.)
The queen wore (or perhaps it was a glamour) a full-length canary yellow dress that clung to her body like it was glued on. Her smile was as sticky sweet as ever, as she walked up to Kai and his father. "Thank you so much for your hospitality," she said, curtsying in front of Rikan, who replied with a bow. "It was my pleasure, your majesty."
"Yes, yes. Well, I do hope that my daughter and my head thaumaturge will enjoy their time here. I look forward to securing an alliance with you sometime in the future, my dear Emperor Rikan." She turned to Kai. "Prince Kai..." She began, her voice sweet and smooth, but even though her voice was its natural tone, Kai tensed out of habit.
Channary's veil covered up a smirk that Kai could see, just barely visible. Kai resisted the urge to clench his fists.
"It has been a pleasure meeting you, Prince Kai." Channary purred. "You seem like a fine young man. Best of wishes to you in the future." Channary shot Rikan and Kai a final sugary smile and made her way towards the royal ship, followed by 3/4 of the guards that had accompanied the Lunars to the Commonwealth at first. The last fourth stayed with Head Thaumaturge Heliore and Selene, and Kai noticed that the blond guard, Jacin, had stayed back as well.
The queen did not hesitate in her swift, quick, movements walking up the ramp of the ship, and moments after, the engine roared to life, causing everyone in the square to step back. There was barely a moment of hesitation between the engines coming to life before the ship took off completely, leaving the palace square (and several bemused first-time EC guards) as if it had never been there in the first place.
Kai heard Deshal Huy call out something to the guards, who instantly gathered until single file lines heading back into the palace. Huy, Torin, and Rikan followed. Kai made to follow suit, but he just so happened to turn his head and he caught a glimpse of Princess Selene,who was in deep conversation with Elissa Heliore.
Something stirred in Kai's chest, and before he knew it he was racing forward, striding across the square, towards Selene.
"You should be careful. The queen has left, perhaps you should—"
"—I'll be fine, you don't have to worry. And besides—"
"Hey." Kai didn't realize how rudely he had interrupted (or how sneakily he had snuck up behind Selene and Elissa Heliore) until the head thaumaturge shot him a scandalized look. But Selene merely turned around to look at him, and her lips curved into a hesitant smile. Turning back towards the thaumaturge, she told her, "Liss, can we talk about this later?"
Elissa Heliore looked like she would rather swallow a bucket of hot sauce (did they have those on Luna?) than leave Selene alone with Kai, but she curtsied and walked away, the rest of the guards following her. And then Kai was alone with Selene.
"So... " Kai trailed off. There had been absolutely no logic involved in his spurt of the moment meet up with the crown princess of Luna, but hey, here they were.
Selene laughed. As usual, she was wearing something that was much more casual than what her mother had worn. She was wearing a knee length dress, with a white lace top that was drawn in at her waist only to billow out into a navy blue skirt with the a flower pattern. A thick tan belt was wrapped around waist as well. A pair of flats with navy blue and white stripes completed the look, along with Selene's natural chesnut curls.
Not that Kai was solely focusing on her clothes.
"Oh, that's always a great way to start of a conversation." Selene grinned. She seemed happier today, Kai reflected. Perhaps it was her mother's departure.
Kai scrambled for a response while the two of them made their way, ducking under vines and ivy, towards the palace garden where they had first met. "Uh... It's like a hundred degrees out here. Aren't you hot?"
Selene raised her eyebrows and tilted her head to the side. "Well, I'm not really the vain type as to judge myself. Also, that's a very questionable thing to ask the visiting princess of Luna,don't you think?"
Kai felt his ears redden. "Stars. I didn't mean to ask you— I meant—"
"From one royal to another, never phrase that question that specific way ever again." Selene chuckled again. "But to answer your question, yes, I am dying of heatstroke like everyone else in this palace. Aces, how do you even deal with this kind of supernatural torture?"
It was Kai's turn to laugh. "When you're born here, you get used to it. The heat and the mosquitoes. They're like my best friends."
"Hmph. Well, Luna doesn't really have a climate. Everything is determined by our scientists. It's usually sunny, unless the scientists are going on strike. It prevents pollution though." She paused. "The climate, I mean. Not the scientists."
"Thats one of the perks of living on Earth, though. Come for the weather,stay for the pollution." Kai grinned at her.
"And the scenery," mused Selene thoughtfully. "it's beautiful here, you know. All natural trees and sky and stars and everything."
"Yeah." The pair walked in silence until they reached the garden's west entrance, which was guarded by an elaborate gate. Kai kneeled in front of the gate.
"What are you doing?" Selene craned her neck to peer at him.
"The gate's locked," Kai replied. "There are four entrances to the garden— one from the palace, which is the entrance we first used when you visited the first time— that's the south entrance; one from the shed further away, which is the north entrance, the east entrance, which is also connected to the palace, and this entrance, which is the west entrance. It's locked, but my mother always kept a key hidden under the dirt... Oh, here it is." Kai produced a long brass key from the hole he had dug, which he showed off proudly to Selene. "It's one of the only thing things that I have left of my mom," he explained.
Kai inserted the key into the keyhole, which clicked the moment the key was turned. The gate swung open, and Kai and Selene found themselves in the royal garden once more.
Yay! 4500 words! That was twice as long as the chapter before. See, I live up to my promises.
So now Channary is gone, which I know a lot of you are liking. I didn't really like her departure scene though, for me, it was rushed because I didn't know what I could add. I just wanted to emphasize that she wanted to get the hell out of there. But oh well. Now we can focus on Kaider!
And writing the name "Jace" made a huge burst of adrenaline and a whole wave of goosebumps attack me. Clace forever.
Because she's my original creation, Elissa is probably my favorite character right now. I have a lot of things planned for her.
I'll try to have the next chapter up, but I need to fix some stuff first. And write the next chapter.
PS: Is anyone using SwiftKey Keyboard? I just downloaded it and it's like a huge thorn(e) in my side. It's so aggressively intent on fixing my "spelling errors" even when I have none. Ugghhhh. I'm thinking about uninstalling, but the keyboard design is just too cute. And Google Keyboard freezes too often.
